Nation

January 29, 2008|By FROM NEWS SERVICES

Trial begins for celebrity coroner

Celebrity pathologist Cyril Wecht used government employees as secretaries, gofers and chauffeurs for himself and his private business while working as Allegheny County medical examiner and coroner, prosecutors in Pittsburgh said Monday at the start of Wecht's trial. Wecht, 76, is charged with 41 counts, including wire fraud, mail fraud and theft. He has denied wrongdoing, and his attorneys have maintained that the charges are politically motivated.

Neighbor saves man from ice

A 27-year-old man who fell through the ice while walking in Weymouth, Mass., survived the frigid plunge thanks to a neighbor who skidded across the pond in a canoe. "He was saying, 'I'm going down. Don't let me die.' It was really scary," neighbor John Volta said. "I just grabbed the canoe and went off like on a skateboard out to him." Jason Dubois is expected to be OK.

Fighting flu without needles

Relief may be on the way for all those youngsters trembling at the thought of another needle jab. One day the flu vaccine may simply be placed under the tongue. Korean researchers say a couple of drops of liquid under the tongue gets the vaccine directly to mucus membranes and prompts a response both in mucus tissues throughout the body as well as in the immune system itself.